A new type of heating and cooling system has been slowly making its way across the Pacific and into the U.S. and Canadian marketplaces. "Ductless mini-split" air conditioners and heat pumps, which are used in over three-quarters of all new homes in Japan, are now sold in North America by at least eight companies. Most of the systems are Japanese, and most brands have been introduced into the U.S. and Canada within the past five years. At their current cost of roughly $2,000 per ton of cooling, the minisplits are probably too expensive to compete with conventional ducted heating and cooling systems for new house construction. But they do provide a quick and easy way to add zoned cooling to
